Archive for September 23rd, 2010

Maybe it’s the change in seasons which just became official, or maybe it’s the nostalgia and romance left in the air after last weekend’s SageCliffe wedding, but whatever the reason, it feels like a good time to reflect.

Often guests looking for a great Washington State resort get just the basics: a click here, a click there, a quick look at the prices and amenities, and then they’re off to the next website. Comparison shopping is not only necessary, it’s smart. But we can tell you that from the resort side of things, we do hope that first-time guests looking for a great Washington lodging experience can somehow glean a bit more from their searches. A getaway is a time and money commitment, and it’s also an expectation risk–you’re never quite sure you’ll get what you really want.

So how can you get beneath the surface information and get a feel for the soul of a place? How can you grasp its spirit? One way may be for us to simply give you more of SageCliffe’s story. For SageCliffe certainly is a Washington resort with a rich history and many stories to tell.

Did you know that Dr. Vince Bryan and his wife Carol purchased the land SageCliffe Resort spans back in 1980? They had spent the greater part of a year driving all over Washington State, looking for a property with the absolute best conditions for growing wine grapes. The station wagon they drove upped its odometer numbers, that’s for sure. The search began on the westside of the mountains but eventually moved across the Cascades into Central Washington….and there they found an extraordinary piece of land. This 500+ acre property (which has now grown to 700 acres) encompassed what we now call The Gorge Amphitheater, Cave B Inn, The Spa at SageCliffe, Tendrils Vineyard Restaurant, Chiwana Village at SageCliffe’s luxury yurts, and Cave B Estate Winery, along with over 100 acres of vineyards and 50 of apples and cherries. But in 1980 the land held an alfalfa field, a mobile home, a shed…and spectacular beauty on the edge of the Columbia River Gorge. The Bryans had found what they were looking for. They didn’t know it then, but they had also found much more. More story-posts from SageCliffe coming soon.